Minecraft’s 1.21 update likely won’t arrive until sometime in June 2024, but there’s plenty of fun to be had in the meantime. While the vanilla game still has a lot to offer, fans can also look to the modding community for many enjoyable in-game modifications that provide hours of enjoyment. Some are stronger than others, but all of them can provide plenty of fun while players wait for version 1.21.
From introducing new biomes to creating new mobs, each mod also changes the way Minecraft handles physics and gameplay. The list of mods is virtually endless, and fans can find a mod for seemingly any type of interest.
Regardless, as the wait for Minecraft 1.21 continues, it doesn’t hurt to take a look at some of the best mods to keep fans busy.
Note: This article is subjective and reflects the views of the author.
7 mods to entertain players before the release of Minecraft 1.21
1) Create
Create, as the name suggests, is all about expressing a Minecraft player’s creativity. Introducing new blocks and items focused on automation, fans can create entire factories dedicated to resource collection and refining, many of which are more than in-game farms can do. Many implementations of Create also exist to provide more freedom in building and decorating.
Create mode certainly has a lot of content to keep players busy. Fortunately, it also provides in-game documentation to help fans get started with their new automated builds.
Download Create Mod
2) Biomes O’Plenty
Mojang has made progress in adding new biomes to Minecraft, but some players are still left wanting more. This is where Biomes O’ Plenty comes in, adding over 50 biomes to the game, including fungal grottoes, seasonal forests, volcanic plains and hot springs, and coniferous forests. They also come with new plants, flowers and building blocks for players to use.
To put it bluntly, Biomes O’Plenty blows away the vanilla variety of biomes that Mojang has provided in Minecraft over the past several years. Players will have no shortage of new locales to explore, no matter what dimension they find themselves in.
Download Biome O’Plenty
3) Alex’s mobs
Introducing 89 new entities to Minecraft, Alex’s Mobs is a must for players who love biodiversity in their game world. In addition to a wide range of new animal hordes to tackle in different biomes, gamers can also discover fantasy-inspired creatures in magic such as desert spirits, reptilian snowmen, sunbirds, and the Void Worm, a new boss seen at the end.
When paired with mods like Biomes O’Plenty, Alex’s Mobs provide hours of fun and recreate Minecraft’s landscape across the board. Compared to vanilla, the mobs here are lively and attractive, and some are as dangerous as advertised.
Download Alex’s Mobs
4) Ars Nouveau
Minecraft has glimpses of magic in a vanilla game, but why not expand on what that magic can do? Ars Nouveau gives fans the ability to create custom spells, perform rituals, and summon new magical hordes to aid in their tasks. Some artifacts also exist that can boost the player’s powers and abilities, making them worth finding.
Toss in the fact that players can also create magic machines for automation, and Ars Nouveau is one of the most complete magic mods in the gaming community. It takes some getting used to, but before players know it, they’ll be casting spells and creating an arcane sanctum to protect their secrets.
Download Ars Nouveau
5) Physics mode
While the physics mod doesn’t necessarily introduce new content, it does completely improve how blocks, entities, and overall game physics work in-game. Highly customizable with multiple settings for block, mob and item physics, players can experience the caverns collapsing using fragmented shards of blocks or chopping mobs to bits with the Blocky Mob Death option.
The free iteration of physics mode offers a very satisfying experience while breaking blocks, placing objects and fighting mobs. Its Patreon-backed levels also offer new realistic fluid dynamics that simulate real-world water.
Download Physics Mod
6) Required mode
A mod that is said to take Minecraft: Java Edition to the next level, Essential Mod introduces a laundry list of quality-of-life improvements while also offering new customization options in the form of custom cosmetics. Players can host games without a server or realm for their friends who have installed the mod, use the in-game messenger function, and even switch their accounts on the fly.
To be honest, Essential Mode introduces many features that should have been in Java Edition some time ago, and the added cosmetics are the icing on the cake.
Download the required mod
7) Cobblemon
Like the Pixelmon mod before it, Cobblemon is a Pokemon-focused mod that brings pocket monsters to the world of Mojang’s sandbox title. The open-source mode brings more than 500 Pokémon from all nine generations of the series to catch, train, evolve, and battle. Players can also farm berries and apricots to make healing items and poke balls, among other products.
Cobblemon has been developed to be as compatible as possible with other mods, but offers a ton of fun and replayability on its own. It is also fully compatible with multiplayer, which greatly enriches the experience.
Download Cobblemon